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Nearly a quarter of public school students in California have dropped out. The numbers for certain ethnic groups are even more startling.
Wed Jul 16, 2008
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Aired 7/16/2008 on All Things Considered
Aired 7/17/2008 on Morning Edition
(Sacramento, CA)
The report by the State Department of Education found nearly 68-percent of public school students graduated, while 24- percent dropped out. Those preliminary numbers are from the 2006-2007 school year. State Schools Chief Jack O’Connell also points out disturbing news in certain ethnic groups.
“Our African American dropout rate, over forty percent, it’s 41-point-six percent, for our Latinos, it’s 30-point-three percent. This is a crisis…”
Last year’s dropout rate was reported at 13-percent but that was determined using data from enrollment numbers. O’Connell says you can’t really compare because this year the state has been able to track individual students.
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